Thursday, 30 June 2011

After listening to Lady Ga Ga for 3 hours, I was ready to get out of the car, especially after travelling 170 miles and getting lost! After queuing for twenty minutes in a 200 plus queue, I was gutted to drew 59 Bonsai, don't get me wrong it’s a great lake, but no island cast and anglers 7 yards each side and they both had a corner of the island each, and people opposite, I have no room to draw and hold fish. So my feeder line was going to be pants, as there wasn't one! With some anglers around the lake(s) having a lot of room (3 and 4 empty pegs) this would work in their favour, as high pressure matches fish will back off to them areas.

With very tight pegging, I had no option but to fish long, 16 meters and was going to fish chop worm on the deck and up in the water, then back ups are method feeder at 20 yards and paste at 5 meters!Matt Smith even said “an early bath then mate”?

The match

Well the method feeder never moved for ten minutes, so after seeing Tommy Pickering opposite catching a carp on the pole, I decided to ship out to 16 meters after feeding four balls of groundbait laced with chop worm and caster (a very bad mistake) as my float didn't move, despite fish blowing a little. Then Matt Smith next to me caught a chub on meat shallow at 13 meters, and so my third option has come out in fifteen minutes (nothing like starting on the correct method) and toss potted worms and fished 12 inches deep, and catch a few carp, a couple of 5lbers, but the angler to right decided to fish pellets up in the water and was regularly feeding, so had meat fed 7 yards to my left and pellets 7 yards to my left. Hmmmmmm. To say the least the fish didn't last very long, but in fairness there were loads there to begin with. Then the match went hard, so went back on the bottom at 15 meters, away from my groundbait, and fed negatively with minced worms and started to catch F1's (a good shoal fish) and was beginning to put a steady amount of fish in the net, but I never was going to win the match and this is why I travelled 170 miles (well 180 as I got lost) for. Fishing negatively was very positive, fishing 0.10 bottoms with 18 LS1150 hook was the way to go.Even with the odd 2lber carp, I had no issues getting them in with my yellow 2.1 bi core, well until a carp swam 7 yards to my right and he strook it off as he must of thought it was a bite on his feeder.So a new rig was needed, so my off my box and I to say the least I wasn’t happy. With 1 hour and 50 minutes left, it was decision time with 20lb in the net (which was more like 35lb),I either go through the motions, or try and win something and therefore I decided to feed pellets over the top............. which caught a couple of carp and lost a few foul hookers. But looking around the lake, almost everybody was catching apart from me, who has now blown my peg!I would imagine the fish swam around the bait.So with 15 mintues left I decided to start packing up, as I had a mountain of gear set up, and chucked the method out twice and went round about a minute off the end with 1lb mirror.In reflection I should of started on worms at the beginning and fished it all match to win my section, as I could of easily. As Matt Smith won it with 28kg, next to me. Well done Matt, after fishing an awesome match in the last two hours, fishing worm long past his meat line.

My lesson is learnt, that you simply can't win a match of this size off any peg. So will have to learn to fish to the peg capability, but the issue is, you won't win!!!

Oh well, as everyone tells me there is always next year, but I want to get back in the final again.Came close at tunnel, as I finished 2nd but 2nd may as well be last.Also came 4th at Larford last year, after losing enough fish to win the match twice over!!!Maybe it will be 3rd year lucky?

Saturday, 4 June 2011

I started fishing paste, at 9 meters normally would fish closer but felt it would be hard. Caught two bream in the first ten mintues, then Jon Arthur put ten balls in at 16 meters and that finished..............can't think why??? ﻿